Charles Nordhoff (journalist)

Charles Nordhoff (31 August 1830 – 14 July 1901) was an American journalist, descriptive and miscellaneous writer.

He was born in Erwitte, Germany (Prussia) in 1830, and emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1835. He was educated in Cincinnati, and apprenticed to a printer in 1843. In 1844, he went to Philadelphia where he worked for a short time in a newspaper office, but then joined the United States Navy, where he served three years and made a voyage around the world. After his Navy service, he remained at sea in the whaling, mackerel fishery and merchant service until 1853.

From 1853 to 1857, he worked in various newspaper offices, first in Philadelphia, then in Indianapolis. He was then employed editorially by Harpers until 1861, when he went to work the next ten years on the staff of the New York Evening Post, and he later contributed to the New York Tribune.

From 1871 to 1873 Nordhoff traveled in California and visited Hawaii. He then became Washington correspondent of the New York Herald. Nordhoff died in San Francisco, California.

He was the father of Walter Nordhoff, author of The Journey of the Flame, penned under the name "Antonio de Fierro Blanco".

He was the grandfather of Charles Bernard Nordhoff, co-author of Mutiny on the Bounty.

The town of Ojai, California, was named for him originally. It was changed due to anti-German sentiment of the World War I era, though the local high school retains his name.

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